Making a little progress

Well, the folks have been in their new home for 10 days now.  There have been some ups and downs along the way, but they seem healthier and happier than I’ve seen them in months!  (Don’t expect to hear that from them, though!)  We’ve got all of their pictures and clocks (groan!) hung up, so it looks and feels more like home.  Dennis still has some shelves to build for the bathroom for storage, but they are pretty much settled in.  I’ve been cleaning out refrigerators (yes, plural) and freezers and starting to bring home photo albums to sort through.  I’m hoping to have the house ready for the estate sale planners to come in a couple of weeks.  Daddy and Bobbie want to spend the night at the house during Henrietta Creek’s meeting, so we have to wait until after the 12^th of March.  Toni and Kathy have started working on sorting through stuff at the farm house.  They are going to try to sell some of the pricier stuff locally or through Craig’s List to avoid losing a lot on commission.  They have 2 John Deer riding lawn mowers in good condition that should bring in a good chunk.  Dennis is going to buy their trailer (that they bought for the mowers), and Toni and John are buying the old farm truck.  I think we’ll make enough from selling all of that and the household items to take care of their needs for a few months (along with their regular income).  Hopefully, by then, we can get the house sold.  Assisted living is NOT cheap, but I think, working together, we can make it work for them!

Bobbie had another episode on Saturday night and ended up in the ER.  It was SO much easier just having to drive to Weatherford this time!  She was fine and they sent her home after a couple of hours.  We are hoping to get their new doctor (which they are supposed to see next Monday) to prescribe something that will help her calm down when that happens.  Since she developed her heart condition, she has anxiety attacks that make her feel like she can’t breathe.  We’ve managed to keep her out of the hospital for a couple of weeks now.  Hopefully we can keep her from any more ER visits, too!

In between everything else, Dennis and Ricky have made some good progress on the house.  We are hoping to have the walls textured and ready to be painted by the end of the week.  The old linoleum tile is up and ready to be hauled off to the dump.  After the walls are painted, we can put in new tile floors!  Woo-hoo!  I’m looking forward to that!

Living room (north and west walls)

New and improved laundry room with 36" door

Dennis has made the wall flush under the bay window.  He is going to build a "window seat" for the grandsons.

Sheila came over and spent all day yesterday.  Daddy and Bobbie went to Eastside for the morning assembly and then came over here for dinner.  We had a nice visit.  Then they went to Highway for the afternoon assembly.  Being the last Sunday of the month, we did a singing.  I think they really enjoyed that!  I’m hoping they will decide to spend MOST of their Sundays doing that…either going to Eastside or Highway, and letting me feed them Sunday dinner.  I cook pretty much every Sunday (unless I am going to Henrietta Creek), and it is usually just the two of us.  I much prefer having several people to cook for (especially on Sundays)!

Sheila heard from Vietnam today, but it wasn’t what she was hoping for.  They are not sending out letters right now, and we really don’t know when they will start up again.  More waiting!  I know it is really hard on her.  I’ve got my hands full right now, so it is actually working in my favor, but I would still rather get that little grandson home sooner than later!  I trust that God is working it all out for the best. 

Going through Daddy’s stuff, I have found some really interesting things.  (He and Momma never threw anything away!)  I’ve got birth, graduation and wedding announcements; an old school newspaper from when I was graduating; birthday and baby cards from my birth and early birthdays; clipped newspaper articles and obituaries; and even my Grandpa Mahaffey’s induction papers from WW1.  I found a hilarious paper that some teacher from 40-50 years ago had compiled from student bloopers.  It was a hoot!  I’m starting, now, on old photo albums (from the DOZENS that he has).  No telling what all I’m going to find!

I spent all day today in Saginaw.  I didn’t actually get a lot of work done though.  I had arranged to meet up with my (ex)sister-in-law, so she could pick out something special for her granddaughter (Daddy’s great-granddaughter) to remember Momma and Daddy by.  She picked out a couple of pictures, a wooden dog wall hanging (from Momma’s spotted dog collection), and a bench.  We ended up talking for over 3 hours!  It was great to catch up with her.  Even though she and Rodney split up 30 years ago, she has been a part of our family the whole time.  Momma and Daddy used to keep her boys after school and during the summers while she worked.  She has always been there for Momma and Daddy when they needed her, too.  She was with us the night Momma passed away and ended up taking Billy to the ER and staying with him until he was released.  I’ve known her for most of my life and still think of her as a sister!

I FINALLY got my results back on my heart scan.  (Why is it that doctors never call you, even though they tell you they are going to call you, but you end up having to call them instead?)  I still didn't get to talk to the doctor, but the nurse told me it was normal.  So I shouldn't be kicking off from a heart attack anytime soon.  Nice to know!  Since my BP is under control, and my heart doesn't have any detectable issues, I should be good for another few years, Lord willing!  I'm glad to hear it, because I really have a lot to take care of for the next few years!

Well, I guess that’s all for now.  If anyone wants to contact Daddy and Bobbie, you can message me and I’ll send you their new address.  I’m sure they’d love to hear from you!  I'll probably be sharing some of the pics that I find on Facebook during the coming days.  Stay tuned!